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Rise of the Robots | Engineering a Robotic Future

Explore the challenges of creating humanoid robots, in these video excerpts from NOVA: Rise of the Robots. The excerpts, from science fiction movies, demonstrate how people have imagined humanlike robots; however, in reality, there are still many technological problems to overcome. Some of the biggest challenges in robotics are developing mobility, manual dexterity, and the ability to sense and understand the environment. The DARPA Robotics Challenge asked teams to design and test semiautonomous robots that could help in disaster scenarios. See how two teams designed bipedal humanoid robots for the competition. This resource is part of the NOVA Collection.

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Learn about the development of bipedal robots and meet Atlas, a humanoid robot that uses cameras, LIDAR, gyroscopes, accelerometers, and other sensors to detect its environment and help it stay upright.

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See how one robotics team entered the first part of the DARPA competition with high expectations but experienced failure after failure, which led to a drastic change in the design of their robot, HUBO.

Robots can be found in many forms these days. For example, disklike robotic vacuum cleaners roam household floors, cleaning them without human assistance. Robotic arms with grippers are common in factories, where they complete tasks such as welding, painting, assembly, and packing. Rovers are exploring and collecting data on the surface of Mars. And prototypes of self-driving cars are navigating streets without human drivers. But what exactly is a robot?

Although there is no standard definition, robots are typically machines that are controlled by a computer program and can work autonomously or semiautonomously by using a set of sensors. In other words, a robot can sense its surroundings, process data, move around, and function to some degree without human intervention. Robots are often used to do dangerous or tedious activities that people cannot, or do not want to, do. For example, robots can operate with greater precision and speed than a human and are good for repetitive tasks that people find boring, like assembling a smartphone. Robots can also work in environments that are dangerous or inaccessible to humans, such as inside a volcano or on the surface of another planet.

Humanoid robots mimic the physical form of a human; for example, a humanoid robot may have a torso, two arms, and two legs for bipedal motion. Androids are humanoid robots that are designed to look realistically human, with a flesh-like appearance. Engineers have created humanoid robots that look and sound realistic—they can hold a conversation and even have facial expressions; however, there are still many challenges to overcome in building robots that can actually function in the world. From a robotic standpoint, it is very difficult to be able to move in human environments—such as climbing stairs or moving on cluttered surfaces. In movies and television, robots are often portrayed to be far more advanced and humanlike than is possible with current technology.

From 2012–2015, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) held an international competition to develop robots that could assist humans in responding to disaster situations. The goal of the DARPA Robotics Challenge was to spur innovation and inspire the world's leading experts in robotics to develop robots that could complete tasks such as drive a vehicle, clear obstacles from a doorway, open a door and enter a building, use a tool to break through a concrete wall, close a valve to stop a leaking pipe, and climb a ladder. These tasks, which most people could complete with relative ease, still prove difficult for state-of-the-art robots, and many teams failed to complete the tasks. But robotic technology will continue to advance, and, in the future, robots will likely be assisting in real emergency situations.

However, there are important issues to consider related to advances in robotics and the changing roles of robots in society. For example, how will automation affect society as it becomes more common and as robots are able to replace humans in more and more jobs? Or, as robots become more autonomous, could they become a threat or a hazard to humans? Should robots have rights or follow a code of ethics? Should robots be allowed to take lethal action? Who is responsible if an autonomous robot injures a person? Addressing the ethical and social implications of robots is an interdisciplinary effort that involves scholars and researchers from many areas, including robotics, computer science, psychology, law, and philosophy.